Manufacture of footwear



Jan. 31, 1939. B, GORMAN 2,145,348

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Filed Jan. 27, 1937 INVENTOR 19 kf 'y jo aw Patented Jan. 31,1939

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE alums .IANUI'AIPI'UIBDI'I'OOTWHB.

Belmont, assign to mp0 (hmntiom llaon, lihlameorponflenolneh Application January 21, im, sci-n1 No. 122,501

welt unit, the welt of which is attached around the margin of an outsole, and Tthe fastening strip cemented to the underside of a lasted shoe. In my copending application Serial No. 50,070, filed November 16, 1935, 'a welt'unit useful in assembling such a shoe is disclosed and claimed. The present invention relates to shoes of this general type, and general objects of the'invention are to provide improved andnovel methods of manufacturing such shoes, and improved-and novel shoe constructions produced in accordance with such methods. f More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a novel method of assembly whereby the welt unit can be conveniently fitted and attached tothe outsole by means of cement.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a shoe bottom assembly useful in making shoes of the type herein contemplated, a welt ply useful in making such bottom assembly, and meth-' ads of producing said bottom assembly and welt my 7 g Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

.The inventionaccor'dingly comprisesthe several steps and the relationof one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the article possessing the features; properties, and the relation of elements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reierence'should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

which: 7 V Fig. l is a transverse sectional view showing one stage in the construction of a welt unit used in carrying out the invention;

Mg. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the wait unit of Fig. 1 with its fastening strip in its final position;

an edge inner margin of the welt and both doubles foe 1 Clin c. (or. 12-14:)

broken awaybetter to show the underlying con struction;

Pig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view 'through a shoe bottom assembly made in ac cordanoe with the present invention and show- 5 ing the weltply of Fig. 3 being assembled withan welt is attached to a fastening strip toform a outsole Pig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, on a scale corresponding, with Figs. 1 to 3,, showing portion of a united shoe bottom as; it sembly;

Fig. I is a. transverse vertical sectional view across the shank portion of the shoe bottom assembly; and r Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional id view through the toe portion of a shoe embodying features of the invention. 1

In accordance with the invention disclosed in my previously'mentioned applications, it is contemplated that the Walt unit may be attached to 2G the outsole either by means of cement or stitching. When the welt unit is stitched to the outsole, it is readily shaped to conform therewith by the ordinary material guiding elements on the stitching machine which position the welt 225 along the margin of the outsole. a cement bond is to be employed between the welt ployed while the cement sets.

Inaccordance with this invention, the wel unit is shaped to the outsole contour by a prelimlnary attachment to a'shaping piece which-35' .may conveniently be a filler piece normally used in constructing the shoe.

.the welt unit may readily be cemented to the When thus shaped,

outsole and proper registry between it and the outsole is readily provided while the elements 4@ are in a suitable cement-aflixing press.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a welt unit comprising a welt it. or" leather or the like, which may be of conventional size and construction for a g given type of shoe, and which, preferably, has an inseam accommodating groove along its flesh side and an'opposed bevel along the inner margin of its grain side, as illustrated. A fastening strip ii is doubled along a fold line which is ap- 59 proximately registered with the inner edge of the welt. This fastening strip is preferably of strongfabric such as textile tape, canvas, or the St ong inseam stitching it passes through .2 I of the fastening strip which latter may thereafter be undoubled as shown in Fig. 2 to present upwardly facing cementable surfaces extending both inwardly and outwardly from the material, including leather.

which the welt unit is attached will substantially for example, heavy matted paper, Onco". or

any other suitable composition or fibrous sheet The shaping piece I3 is constructed in accordance with the size requrements of the outsole to be used in the particular shoe being assembled and its marginal edges as at H are shaped to follow the marginal outline of such given outsole but to be located inwardly therefrom a distance at least as great as and preferably approximately corresponding to the width of the welt Ill. The piece I3 may conveniently terminate at approximately the heel. breast line, or, if desired, it may substantially overlie the entire outsole, and its thickness preferably corresponds with that of the welt I ll.

The welt unitshown in Fig.2 is attached around the margins of 'the shaping piece IS in anysuitable manner, for example, by means of-stitches. staples, adhesive, or the like, to form'a unitary welt ply. Stitching i5 is preferably used for this purpose and serves to hold the inwardly extending portion of the fastening strip ll down against the upper marginal surface of the shaping piece |3.- Preferably, feather stitching or other stitching having a considerable lateral extent is employed to bind the fastening strip down flat against the shaping piece, and a loop of each stitch is prei'erably passed through the doubled foldof the fastening strip as shown in Fig. 3 in order to hold the welt closely adjacent the edge of the shaping piece. The ends of the welt unit may desirably be continued rearwardly somewhat beyond the heel breast line and beyond the end of the shaping piece, subject to subsequent butt ending, to facilitatepreliminary registry of the welt and filler with the outsole in,'the' manner about to be described.

An outsole vl6 is provided which is preferably r rounded and shank-skived preparatory to assembly with the welt ply. This outsole may be of grain leather or'other suitable material and is preferably amenable to cement bonding with the welt. The outer edges of the welt ll, which are shaped by the margins of the shaping piece ii to coincide with the rounded edges of the outsole. and the welt ply is located over the outsole in such registered position. A preliminary locating adhesive I1 is applied between the extreme rear portionof the welt ply, including the rearmost ends of the welt unit, and the outsole inorder to hold the former in registered position. A strong permanent adhesive such as pyroxylin cement is interposed between the welt ply and the outsole.

This may be applied-to the flesh side of the welt at any time prior to or during the construction;

of the welt imit, or it may be applied to the welt 'Or the welt and shaping piece after the assembly to dry prior to assembly of the welt ply and out-. I sole and then rendered adhesive by theapplicaa press and kept under pressure until the adhesive sets. This press may comprise opposed platensfif desired, and if a shank-skived or otherwise irregularly surfaced outsole is used, suitable accommodations therefore may be provided in one of these platens. Ii preferred, a yieldable pressing surface may be provided on at least one platen, and the presses may conveniently be routed around an endless carrier in accordance with well-known shoe pressing procedure.

Y After the welt ply and outsole are permanentl affixed to each other, shown in Fig. 6, the shoe bottom assembly thus formed is preferably molded at the shank portion to approximate the undersurface of the lasted shoe, and the welt may also be butted to end at the heel breast line.

A lasted upper is provided which maybe of any suitable type capable of being joined with the shoe bottom assembly. A preferred form of shoe comprises an insole 20 having an upper l8 overlasted thereto with its lasting allowance in I, flat overlying relation therewith. Cement, tack. staple, or any other suitable form of lasting may be employed. If desired, an additional filler piece l9 may be located in the central forepart portion of the underside of the shoe bottombetween the inturned edges of the lasting allowance, and if desired, a metal shank stiflener and other conventional appurtenances may be assembled with the lasted shoe.

The shoe bottom assembly as shown in Figs. 6 and '7 is now ready for cement attachment to the underside ofthe lasted shoe. To this end, the upwardly facing portions of the fastening strip I I are coated with a suitable permanent adhesive such as pyroxylin cement and the underside of the shoe is also preferably roughed and cemented. In each instance, this cement may be applied and allowed to dry prior to the bottom afllxing operation, and may be rendered active by the application of solvent at the proper time. The bottom assembly is located on the underside of the lasted shoe with the cement properly activated and the entire shoe assembly is placedin a suitable soleamxlng press and held under pressure until the cement sets:

welt can be conveniently and accurately attached to the. outsole'by means of adhesive. Certain benefits of the invention'are also obtained even when a stitched connection is employed between the welt I. and'the outsole, and it is contemplated that this form of connection may also be employed within the purview otthe appended claims when the context permits.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process, and certainmodiilcations in the article In accordance with this mode of assembly. the 7 which embody the invention may bemade withall matter contained in the above description or' shown in the accompanying drawing shall be inn is also to be understood that the following claims 'are intended'to cover all of the generic r and specific features of the invention herein -described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a'matter dfslansuase. might be said to fall therebetween. Y

terpreted as illustrathre and not in a-lim'iting aliases prising, first stitching a fabric fastening strip to a free welt, providing an outsole, providing a filler piece with margins following but located inwardly from margins of said outsole, then attaching-said stitched fastening strip to said filler piece with said Welt located outwardly from the filler piece margins and with saidstrip overlying the outer margins on the foot side of said filler piece, thereafter adhesively uniting said welt and outsole,

and then adhesively attaching said fastening strip to the underside of a lasted shoe. h

3. In a method of making shoes, the steps comprising, stitching a fabric fastening strip to a free welt in position to extend inwardly therefrom, providing an outsole, providing a filler piece with a margin following but located inwardly from the margin of said outsole, then stitching the inwardly extending portion of said strip over the margin of the foot side of said'filler piece with the inner edge of said welt positioned in butted relation with the outer edge of said filler piece, then adhesively attachingsaid welt to said out sole, and thereafter adhesively attaching said strip to the underside of a lasted shoe.

4. In a method of making shoes, the steps com prising first attaching a fabric fastening strip to a welt to form a welt unit, providing an outsole, shaping said welt to overlie the margins of said outsole by attaching said fastening strip around the edges of a sole shaped sheet while positioning the inner edge of said welt in butted relation with the outer edges of said shaped sheet; adhesively uniting said shaped welt and outsole, and then adhesively attaching said fastening strip to the underside of a lasted shoe.

5. In a method of'making shoes, the steps comprising, stitching a fabric fastening strip along the inner side of a welt to form a welt unit, providing a rounded and shank skived outsole, providing a sole shaped sheet with a margin following but located inwardly from the margin of said outsole, stitching said fastening strip above the margin of said sheet while drawing the inner edge of said welt into butted relation with the outer edge of said sole shaped sheet to shape -said welt to the sole, interposing adhesive between said welt. and sole, pressing said welt and sole together until said adhesive sets to form a bottom assembly, molding said bottom assembly, and thereafter adhesively attaching said fastening strip to the underside of a lasted shoe.

6. In a method of making shoes, the steps comprising, providing a rounded outsole, providing a filler piece with guiding edges following but located inwardly from the margins of said outso1e, stitching the outer portion of a fabric fastening strip to a free welt with its inner portion extending inwardly from the welt, then attaching the inwardly extending portion of said strip above the margin of the foot side of said filler piece while drawing the inner edge of said welt into butted relation with the guiding edges of said filler piece to form an intermediate welt ply, and then cementing said welt ply and outsole together to form a welted shoe bottom assembly adapted thereafter to have the exposed portion of the fabric strip cemented to the bottom of a shoe.

'7. A shoe bottom assembly arranged as a unit adapted for subsequent cement attachment to a lasted shoe and comprising, a rounded outsole, a

welt having a fabric fastening strip stitched thereto and extending inwardly therefrom, a filler piece overlying said outsole and having its edges terminating short of the sole edges by approximately the width of said welt, said welt overlying and being adhesively attached to the marginal portion of said outsole outwardly from said filler piece with its inner edge positioned in butted relation with the outer edges thereof, and

stitching joining said fastening strip and filler piece, the inwardly extending portion of said fabric fastening strip being located above the foot side of said filler piece and providing a cementable surface adapted to be adhesively attached to the bottom of said lasted shoe.

HENRY B. GORMAN. 

